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But as soon as I demanded, “Where’s Chloe?” I finally focused on Lucy’s face.
And damn.
Still sitting on her knees on the carpet with Vaughn kneeling next to her now, she had tears and blood streaming down her cheeks. Her lip and one of her eyes were slightly swollen, and her entire body was trembling with fear.
The worst part, however, was her child that was still lying on the carpet. It took me a moment of wondering why no one had picked her up yet before I realized—fuck on a stick—the baby was bleeding from the head and wasn’t moving, wasn’t crying, she wasn’t even awake.
My heart dropped.
But no… Lucy’s new baby couldn’t be—
“Jesus,” Trick croaked from behind me, gripping my arm as he peered over my shoulder to see.
Lucy looked up at Trick and me. Eyes filling with more tears, she bowed over herself as she held on to her own ribs in anguished defeat. “H-he took her,” she wept.
“Took her?” Trick echoed hollowly. “Took herwhere?”
“I—I don’t…” She shook her head, her voice so raw and broken it was barely audible. “I—I was fighting him off, but then Ava fell, and I had to check on her. He dragged Chloe out then. I don’t know where they went. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. But Ava was hurt.”
“Shh, hey…” Vaughn reached for her. “It’s okay.”
My vision wavered, and my knees went limp. Chloe better be fucking okay.
My last words to her couldn’t have been my idiotic joking about her restraining order. I felt weak in the stomach, thinking about the stupid, insensitive shit I’d said. God, I was such an ass.
“Ma’am?” a woman’s voice said from the floor, near Lucy, making me jump and look around until I realized Lucy had called someone, probably 911, and had them on speakerphone.
“You have others with you now, right?” the phone lady asked. “Do any of them happen to know the assailant’s last name?”
“Trick?” Lucy asked, looking past me toward him.
“Freston,” he immediately supplied. “Dax Freston. And I know exactly where the fucker lives.”
I turned toward him, lifting my eyebrows in an,Oh, really? You know where he lives, huh?kind of way. And when he lifted his eyebrows right back—Why, yes, I do. Road trip?—I nodded.
Hell yeah, I was totally in.
“Let’s go,” I said, only to glance toward Vaughn, knowing he’d want in on a piece of the ass-kicking pie. “Uncle?”
But Vaughn glanced at Lucy before shaking his head. “I’m staying with them. Just go. Get that son of a bitch.”
Worked for me.
Someone should probably stay with Lucy and the baby, anyway.
So Trick and I nodded and took off.
And this time, I made sureIwas behind the wheel of my own vehicle. “Which way?” I demanded as I backed out of the driveway, also not waiting until Trick was fully inside the passenger seat with the door closed before I took off.
“Take Madison up here, and then head toward Eighth.”
“Roger that.” I watched the road intently as I drove, going through stop signs and lights if the intersection looked clear.
Next to me, Trick tapped his hands restlessly on the armrest of his door.
“You think Ava Grace is okay?” he finally asked, glancing toward me with worry in his eyes.
My stomach dipped, but I nodded. “Yeah. I’m sure. She’ll be fine. Kids are resilient, right?”
